Category: Women’s College Basketball

Top-ranked UCLA women’s basketball one of eight ranked Big Ten schools

Lots of love for the Big Ten.

The Associated Press top-25 rankings for NCAA women’s basketball is littered with Big Ten schools as UCLA holds the top spot for the first time in program history. 

While the Bruins top the list, you don’t have to travel too far down the rankings to find a conference foe, with USC sitting at #6 following the Trojans loss to Notre Dame last week. Another Big Ten school rounds out the top-ten with the Maryland Terrapins sitting at #10 after their 6-0 start to the season. 7-0 Ohio State is right below Maryland at #11.

Illinois sits at #19 after starting the season 6-1, with their one loss coming against #14 Kentucky. Undefeated Oregon gets bumped up to #21 after being ranked #23 last week. The 7-0 Iowa Hawkeyes sits right behind the Ducks at #22 with the team remaining in the top-25 even with guard Caitlin Clark leaving for the WNBA following last season. 

The final Big Ten school in the top-25 is the #25 Nebraska Cornhuskers who are 6-1 this year, with their loss coming against unranked Creighton. 

With eight of the 25 ranked schools coming from the Big Ten shows the stiff level of competition the Bruins will have to go against if they want to win the first conference title in the new-look Big Ten. 

UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington all joined the Big Ten from the Pac-12 following last year where new ACC school Stanford won the regular season championship before USC won the Pac-12 tournament. 

DeShaun Foster shouts out UCLA’s women’s basketball team for #1 ranking

Strong praise from Foster!

UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster ended his media availability on Monday with a special message to the UCLA women’s basketball team and head coach Cori Close after they defeated defending champion South Carolina on Sunday and became the AP #1 team in the nation for the first time in school history.

“Hold on, there was one team that beat SC this weekend,” Foster said. “Our women’s basketball team did a great job, came out dominated the #1 team. They’re also the #1 now themselves. I’m just so proud of them and Coach Close, she does a good job over there, she’s truly built a culture.”

After becoming the Bruins head coach in 2011, Close has led UCLA to a 287-140 record, the third coach in program history to record 200 wins. She’s likely to tack onto to that win total, with the Bruins starting the season 5-0 and earning the title as top team in the country.

“They’re always in the top-ten but it was awesome to see them,” Foster said. “The atmosphere that was in that arena, I hadn’t seen anything like that since Baron Davis. It was pretty cool.”

Close responded back to Foster on X saying “Thank you @DeShaunFoster26 and @UCLAFootball . You are really special to us. We appreciate you coming and for all the support. Bruins stick together.” 

Foster and the Bruins will host the Fresno State Bulldogs in the regular season finale for the 4-7 UCLA squad.

Washington Women’s basketball earns 61-43 over Southern University at Pink Flamingo Championship

The Washington Huskies cruised to a 61-43 victory over Southern University at the Pink Flamingo Championship.

The Washington Huskies women’s basketball team cruised to a big win over Southern University in the consolation game of the Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, Bahamas, beating the Jaguars 61-43.

Hannah Stines had her second straight double-digit game of the tournament, tallying a season-high 18 points and recording 6 assists. Four Huskies reached double digits, including Stines, Sayvia Sellers, who had 11 points, and Dalaya Daniels and Elle Ladine, who both finished their days with 10.

Head coach Tina Langley had Washington ready to play early, and the Huskies put up outstanding numbers in the first quarter to set the tone, hitting 8 of their 12 field goal attempts, including a 5-7 tally from three-point range, and 3-4 from the free throw ling.

Washington’s defense dominated, and held Southern to a meager 22.7 field goal percentage, as the Huskies finished the game on an impressive 14-0 run, shutting out the Jaguars for the final 5:15 of the game.

The Huskies’ defensive strength and offensive depth have helped improve them to 7-2 on the season. Next, Washington will return home to play its first Big Ten conference game, and will face off with No. 1 UCLA at Alaska
Airlines Arena on Sunday, Dec. 8, with tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.

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Cori Close simplifies UCLA’s win over South Carolina: ‘We have Lauren and they don’t’

An honest take from Cori Close.

The UCLA Bruins’ success against #1 South Carolina can’t be broken down to just one reason, the commanding win to end the Gamecocks’ 43-game win streak required many facets of the Bruins’ game to be top-tier but head coach Cori Close was able to diagnose the win with just six words.

“We have Lauren and they don’t.” Close said on the broadcast in a postgame interview of her junior center Lauren Betts. 

Betts had far from her best scoring performance on Sunday, finishing with just 11 points but her impact far outweighed the 11 points, piling up 14 rebounds and four blocks. An area where Betts has improved in her second season as a Bruin is playmaking. She had four assists in Sunday’s win, with her season average sitting at 3.4 per game, up from only 0.9 last year.

While Close gave the blunt statement about Betts immediately after the Bruins’ 77-62 win on Sunday, she also expressed her respect for South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley.

“First of all they have set the standard,” Close said. “Such a respect for Dawn Staley, and her whole entire staff and team but we believed that we would win. We always say that it begins before it begins and we do the work mentally and we prepared really well.”

Now the Bruins are the #1 team in the country, taking the throne from the Gamecocks this week before returning to action on Friday at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Hawaii against UT Martin.

Washington women’s basketball falls to No. 7 LSU 68-67 at buzzer

The Washington Huskies held the lead for most of the game, but ultimately fell to the No. 7 LSU Tigers 68-67 in the Pink Flamingo Championship.

The Washington Huskies women’s basketball team held the lead for the first 35 minutes of their semifinal game at the Pink Flamingo Championship against the No. 7 LSU Tigers in Nassau, Bahamas, but in the end, it just wasn’t enough as coach Tina Langley’s team fell to 68-67.

The Huskies were up by as many as six points in the fourth quarter and, with 20 seconds left, were up 67-66. However, LSU guard Kailyn Gilbert split the lane and was able to convert on a layup that spun around the rim and finally dropped in to give coach Kim Mulkey’s team the lead with 1.6 seconds left.

Following a timeout, the Huskies tried to set up an attempt at a game-winning shot, but Gilbert stole the inbounds pass to seal the win for the Tigers.

Sophomore guard Sayvia Sellers had a career day, posting a final line of 24 points and 4 rebounds while converting on 4 of her eight three-point attempts. She hit her final three with 4:31 to play, giving the Huskies a 62-57 lead, but a quick 18 seconds later, she fouled out of the game.

Junior guard Elle Ladine had a big day with 14 points but was just as impactful on the boards with 9 rebounds. Junior Hannah Stines, who played every minute of the contest, also finished in double figures with 12 points and added 5 assists, as the Huskies had a 44.1 field goal percentage, converting on 29.3 percent of their three-pointers on the day.

The Huskies will have one more game at the Pink Flamingo Championship, which will tip off at 8:00 a.m. PST on Wednesday, Nov. 27 against Southern University.

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South Carolina’s Dawn Staley dishes on UCLA’s ‘beautiful’ play

Dawn Staley had a lot of praise.

South Carolina’s head coach Dawn Staley left Sunday’s game against UCLA with a loss for the first time in 44 games, but Staley did take notice of the “great atmosphere” at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday. 

“It was a great game, great atmosphere and great opportunity for UCLA to knock us off,” Staley said in the postgame press conference following the Bruins’ 77-62 win. “I thought we did a good job on Betts but we got killed by everybody else.”

As a team, UCLA shot 47% from the field and drilled ten threes while shooting 48% from deep in an efficient outing for the Bruins against the reigning national champion Gamecocks. 

“They hit open looks, contested looks,” Staley said of the Bruins. “They had it going on on both sides of the basketball.”

It was the first time that UCLA head coach Cori Close had ever defeated Staley, it was also the first time in school history that the Bruins defeated South Carolina, bumping UCLA to 1-4 all-time against the Gamecocks.

“We knew we were going to play a really good UCLA team, didn’t anticipate them shooting the way they shot the basketball,” Staley said. “It was beautiful basketball by UCLA. Beautiful. On both sides, I’m on the opposite side of it but you can’t help but to love up on it because it was fluid.” 

Cori Close calls weekend of women’s college hoops ‘Final Four level’

A lot of talent coming to SoCal this weekend.

The defending champion and #1 team in the country, South Carolina Gamecocks visiting Pauley Pavilion and the #5 ranked Bruins this Sunday won’t be the only heavyweight battle this weekend in women’s college basketball, with #3 USC hosting #6 Notre Dame in what could be a preview of what’s to come in the NCAA Tournament in March.

Or at least that’s what UCLA head coach Cori Close suggested in her post-game press conference after the Bruins’ 101-52 win over Arkansas last Sunday. 

“It’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere,” Close said of the top-five matchup against the Gamecocks. “I love it that the day before Notre Dame to play USC. It’s like Final Four-level basketball in November, in LA. How awesome is that?”

Close and the Bruins will certainly have their hands full on Sunday, with the Gamecocks having won 43 games in a row entering Sunday’s game. The last loss for South Carolina came in the Final Four back in 2023 against Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes, where Clark needed 41 points to hold off South Carolina 77-73.

It will be quite the collection of talent in Los Angeles this weekend, with both schools welcoming top-ten opponents with the Crosstown Showdown between the Bruins’ and the Trojans’ football teams right in between the two basketball games.

Juju Watkins documentary to premiere this Saturday

JuJu Watkins stars in a documentary for which she will also get a producer’s credit. The doc is the lead-in to the USC women’s basketball game vs Notre Dame.

Saturday will be a huge day for Trojan athletics on NBC. At 1 p.m. Pacific time, the network will air the USC women’s basketball team’s early-season top-five showdown with Notre Dame. Then at 7:30 p.m., NBC will also show the football team’s crosstown rivalry matchup with UCLA. Prior to the two games, NBC will also premiere a documentary on USC women’s basketball star Juju Watkins.

Entitled, “On the Rise: Juju Watkins,” JuJu herself both stars in and helps produce the series. It will follow Watkins’ journey from her time in high school through her freshman year at USC, when she immediately established herself as one of the top players in the country.

With the release of the documentary, Watkins effectively becomes the first college athlete to have a series about her while still in school. It will feature appearances by celebrities including WNBA legend Candace Parker, rapper 2Chainz, and former USC star Tina Thompson.

The first two episodes of “On the Rise: Juju Watkins” will air Saturday at noon Pacific on NBC. They will immediately lead into the showdown between the Trojans and the Fighting Irish. The remaining episodes will stream exclusively on Peacock.

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What should we expect in the USC-Notre Dame women’s basketball blockbuster?

USC fans naturally expect the Trojans will win at home versus Notre Dame on Saturday. What does a Notre Dame writer think will happen? We asked one.

On Saturday afternoon, USC women’s basketball will battle Notre Dame in an early season top-five showdown. The Trojans are No. 3. The Fighting Irish are No. 5. It doesn’t get much better or bigger than this for a November basketball game.

Earlier this week, Geoffrey Clark of Fighting Irish Wire shared his prediction for the matchup.

“The Irish will be in a better position if they can get back Liatu King, who missed the last game after leaving the previous game with a head injury,” Clark wrote.

“Regardless, they still will have fewer available bodies than the Trojans, and that won’t play well against a fellow national championship contender. Playing in what should be a tough atmosphere on the road in this situation also could prove challenging.

“USC 77, Notre Dame 65.”

Tipoff between No. 3 USC and No. 5 Notre Dame is set for 1 p.m. in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon at the Galen Center. The game is on NBC and is part of a USC doubleheader on Saturday. The football team plays on NBC at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time against UCLA.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, Ducks Wire, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Alabama falls in women’s basketball AP Poll despite undefeated record

Alabama dropped two spots in the latest women’s basketball AP Poll.

The Alabama Crimson Tide fell in the latest women’s college basketball AP Poll released Tuesday afternoon, dropping two spots down from No. 22 to No. 24 in the country.

This movement for Alabama was however a bit different than what happened to the Crimson Tide in the latest USA TODAY Sports Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll, where the program went in the opposite direction, jumping a spot from No. 22 to No. 21.

At the time of writing, Alabama still remains undefeated for the season at 6-0 overall, and boasts a resume that includes wins at home over New Orleans, Troy, Alcorn State, and Norfolk State, as well as road victories at Alabama A&M and UL Monroe. The closest margin of victory has been a 68-58 win against Norfolk State.

Alabama will be back in action this upcoming Monday, November 25 for a neutral-site matchup with Alabama State in Niceville, Florida for the first game of the Emerald Coast Classic.